Prime Ministerial candidate for the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Juretha Fernandes contended on Friday that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has failed to maximize the potential of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF).
At the People’s National Congress/ Reform’s (PNC/R) press conference, she argued that the way the government has been managing the NRF account which holds the nation’s oil revenues has led citizens to misunderstanding the true purpose of having an oil fund. “The way in which PPP has been managing the Natural Resource Fund, it has given persons the impression that if a billion US dollars goes into the fund, this is billion US, is what you have there for expenditure,” she added.
Fernandes also contended that the NRF investment committee is inactive and has not been working to grow the fund for long-term benefit. She stated, “We have an investment committee right now that does absolutely nothing, an investment committee that should be looking at 1 Billion US going into Natural Resource Fund and saying these are the ways in which we can maximize this billion US so that we’ll have more money to spend in the country, more money to reinvest in the non-oil sectors.”
She argued that what the PPP has been doing is creating the impression to citizens that the revenues coming in from oil is available for only spending with no focus on reinvesting. To this end, she urged Guyanese to rethink how they view oil revenue management, adding that an APNU-led government would ensure that oil wealth is reinvested to build a stronger non-oil economy.
